The Dream Sequence: Lucidity Is Magic
by Barbara Fett
Summary: After Pinkie Pie has a dream about being a pegasus, she wishes she were one. The resident Spirit of Chaos chooses this moment to give wish-granting a try. There will be at least one more chapter after this one, maybe a couple.


The early-morning sunlight shone on the rooftops of Ponyville. Pinkie Pie soared toward them, admiring the panoramic view. The sensations of the sun's warmth on her outstretched wings and the breeze in her mane were glorious. She had a job to do, and today was the most perfect day imaginable to do it.

As she reached the edge of town, brilliant pink glitter began to fall from her wing feathers onto the busy streets below. Every pony upon whom the glitter fell burst into a joyful grin, a hearty laugh, or a few notes of a cheerful song. Pinkie Pie knew that the pink glitter was her special talent, given tangible form by some novel magic.

She flew up and down, back and forth, over the schoolyard, the shops, the market stalls, and each and every street. Her job was to make everypony in town happy, leaving nopony out. Every time she saw a pony smile, laugh, or sing because of her talent, the sunshine in her heart grew brighter.

When she had covered every part of town with glitter, she stopped to rest on a passing cloud. As she floated on it, she gazed down over the edge at the happy ponies in the streets, feeling utterly delighted and supremely satisfied with her work. Flying and making other ponies happy were the most wonderful things in the whole wide world.

She lazily stuck out her tongue and licked up a little bit of the cloud. It tasted like vanilla cake frosting.

_Frosting? _she thought. _Clouds don't taste like frosting. They kinda taste like water-flavored cotton candy. … I dream about frosting a lot. I must be dreaming! - Wait - I CAN'T FLY!_

The second realization came just a moment after the first. A split-second later, her wings vanished and she dropped through the cloud like a rock. She screamed, flailing her legs helplessly. As she fell, everything suddenly went black -

and then she awoke, sitting up sharply.

She blinked, looking around. She was in her own bed. She twisted around to look at her back - no wings. Of course. It had all just been a dream. Except for the falling part, though, it had been an _amazing_ dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break: Insert opening theme sequence here~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie's only obligation that day was foal-sitting the Cake twins for the morning. She had gotten pretty good at it, and she liked doing it, but today, she was a little less cheerful than usual.

"Oh, Pound Cake," she said as she held him. "You're too little to understand how lucky you are. Why couldn't I have been born a pegasus pony, too?"

Pound Cake cooed at her, then started trying to wriggle out of her grasp.

"Oh, go ahead," she said. "I know you're not supposed to fly in the house, but…" She gently set him down. He flapped his tiny wings and took off. Pinkie Pie followed him wherever he went, watching him carefully, but wistfully. She wished with all her heart that she weren't stuck here on the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Mr. and Mrs. Cake came home, Pinkie Pie hurried over to the new castle. If there was anypony who would understand how she felt, it was Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie called out as she entered. "You home?"

"I'm in the library!" Twilight called back.

Pinkie Pie entered the library to find Twilight studying yet another book she'd rescued from the old Castle of the Two Sisters. Behind her, Spike was shelving the latest cartload of ancient volumes they'd brought home from there.

"Hi, Twilight," said Pinkie Pie. "Can we talk? I had the most _super-incredibly-awesome _dream last night, and I really wanted to tell you about it."

"Sure, Pinkie Pie. I'm listening." Twilight levitated a bookmark into place and closed her book, to show that she really was.

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. "I dreamed that I had pegasus wings, and I flew all over Ponyville sprinkling magical glitter everywhere, and it was made from my special talent, so it made everypony so _happy_, just like I normally do only even _better,_ and it was just… _aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!_" She squealed and hopped up and down with delight. "It was amazing! I got all my work done so fast, and best of all, I was _flying!_"

"That sounds like a really great dream!" said Twilight.

"It was the best dream _ever!_ Isn't flying the greatest thing in the whole wide _world?_"

"Well, there is a learning curve, but yeah, it is pretty cool. Why do you ask?"

"I realized that my job would be even _funner _if I really _could _fly and make everypony laugh by spreading happiness glitter everywhere! It would be way faster and easier, too. So I wanted to ask you, could you give me pegasus wings?"

Twilight Sparkle's ears pricked up, and her eyes widened. "What?"

"Come on, Twilight, I know you can do it. You pulled off that amazing transformation spell during the Breezie migration. Couldn't you do something like that again?"

"Don't you remember? Rainbow Dash asked me if I could turn her into a gryphon or something, and I said _no_. Just because you _can _perform high-level spells doesn't mean you _should. _At least, not without a very good reason, like getting the Breezies back home."

"Awww!" Pinkie Pie pouted.

"Anyway, even if I _did _give you wings, I have no idea how to make that magical glitter you were talking about. Our special talents just don't work like that. Especially not yours. You always know exactly what to say to everypony to brighten up their day, because you take the time to get to know them. You're funny, charming, and you make friends so easily. That's how your special talent works. You couldn't do what you do just by using magic."

"I could in my dream!"

"I know, Pinkie Pie, but it was just a dream."

Pinkie Pie sighed. "I wish it were real. I'm tired of being a boring old earth pony stuck on the ground. I wish I could fly!"

"_Boring?_" Twilight laughed a little as she said it. "Pinkie Pie, you are the absolute _opposite _of boring! Ponyville just wouldn't be the same without your smile, your jokes, and your parties. You're already the best pony around at what you do, and we love you just the way you are. You don't need wings to be special."

Pinkie Pie nodded, smiling sadly. "Well, thanks, Twilight. I guess I'll leave you to your studies."

"You look so downhearted. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find somepony else who understand me."

"Well, okay. I guess I'll see you later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie visited Fluttershy's house next. She couldn't stop thinking about her dream and the pure joy it had given her. She just _had _to fly in real life again, and if Twilight wouldn't help her, she knew of someone else who just might.

She knocked at the door of the cozy cottage. "Hello, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy came to the door and let her in. "Hi, Pinkie Pie! Come on in. You're just in time for tea." There was a tea kettle whistling on the stove, and Angel was busy arranging carrots, celery stalks, and cookies on plates. Fluttershy poured the tea, and the three of them sat down to eat.

"Fluttershy, can I ask you for a favor?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Of course," said Fluttershy. "What is it?"

"Could you tell me how to write to Discord?"

"Why? I mean, what do you want to write to him about?"

"Last night, I had the most amazingly awesome dream. I dreamed that I was a pegasus, and I flew all over town, using this magical glitter that came from my wings to make everypony happy, and the glitter was made from my special talent. The whole dream just made me _so happy_ that I haven't stopped thinking about it all day. I just want so badly to be able to fly all the time, and I already asked Twilight if she would give me wings, and she said no. So I thought I would ask Discord instead."

Angel spat out his tea in surprise, then gave Pinkie Pie a very reproachful look.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" said Fluttershy.

"Why wouldn't it be?" said Pinkie Pie. "I know flying comes with responsibilities. I'd be happy to help out with storms and hurricanes and stuff if I could just have wings. They'd make it so much faster and easier to make everypony happy, and it would be so much more _fun_."

"That may be true, but… Does this mean you trust Discord as a friend now?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well, all right. I'll give you a copy of his address."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you!_" squealed Pinkie Pie. "I can't wait to have wings!"

"I hope they make you happy," said Fluttershy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie wrote her letter to Discord, sent it off, and waited. Every day seemed to get longer and longer. Would he write back? Would he come to visit her? Would she simply wake up with wings one morning? There was no telling with him, and the uncertainty just made the waiting harder.

One night, she was startled awake by the sound of a fanfare on a bugle. "Rise and shine, my little aspiring pegasus pony!" called an all-too-familiar voice.

"Discord?" Pinkie Pie said, sitting up. "What are you doing in my room in the middle of the night?"

"Actually, it's nearly dawn. Most pegasi are early risers because they know their jobs are important. Don't you want to get an early start on making everypony happy?"

Pinkie Pie finally got the lamp lit. She gasped. A grayish-brown unicorn with a shaggy black mane and tail and yellow eyes was standing at the foot of her bed, looking at her expectantly. His bright-blue horn glowed and sparkled with magic, and he was wearing a matching blue cape that tied in the front with a pink bow.

"What the hay is _this _getup for?" said Pinkie Pie.

"Didn't I just get a letter from somepony that contained the words 'I wish?' You sounded like a poor, downtrodden filly in need of a fairy godpony. Well, here I am."

Pinkie Pie got out of bed. "I'm glad you got my letter," she said, "but can you go back to normal? This 'fairy godpony' thing is kinda freaking me out."

"Is it?" In a flash of blue light, the cape was gone and Discord was back to his usual draconequus self. "I came into town that way. I thought I might make more pony friends if I were a pony."

"Maybe, but I'm already used to the normal you. Anyway, we were talking about my letter."

"Oh, yes. _I_ understand your feelings perfectly. I can hardly imagine what it would be like _not _to be able to fly. What a terribly limited existence."

"That's right!" said Pinkie Pie. "I'm so glad you understand. I don't want to be an earth pony anymore, not after the dream I had. I want to be a pegasus more than anything!"

"Well, as your friend, I'm very happy to do that for you… but you still have to make a wish out loud."

"Okay. I wish I were a pegasus just like I was in my dream, with the magical pink glitter and everything! I wish I could make that dream come true!"

"As you wish." Discord snapped his claws.

Pinkie Pie was lifted off the floor in the grip of his magic, and began to rotate slowly. Wings sprouted from her back and unfurled, glowing with pink light. Pink glitter appeared on each feather, then fell to the floor. Discord laughed with delight. The transformation completed, he gently lowered her back onto her hooves.

Pinkie Pie's whole face lit up with joy. She cautiously spread her wings, gave them a tentative flap, and found that she could hover with ease. Discord floated up to her level.

"This is _amazing!_" she cheered. "I'm _flying! For real! _And I really know how! Twilight said I would have to learn."

"You're smarter than you seem, Pinkie Pie," said Discord. "You wished to be a pegasus just like you were in your dream, and in your dream, you knew how to fly. If you hadn't said that, I just might have turned you into a pegasus without granting you any flying know-how."

"But that wouldn't have been any fun!"

"It would have been fun to watch you figure it out. But never mind that. I've also granted you a gift that no other pegasus has ever had - laughter dust."

"That's what this glittery stuff is called?"

"Of course. It's like the luster dust you use in your baking, only magical. It does exactly the same thing it did in your dream."

Pinkie Pie flapped her wings a little harder. The laughter dust appeared on them again and fell to the floor. "_This is the greatest day ever!" _she exclaimed. She flew over to the window, opened it, and perched on the ledge. "Thank you so much, Discord! I'm off to work."

"Have fun!" he called after her, watching as she flew off into the rising sun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she approached Ponyville in the morning sunshine, Rainbow Dash spotted a bogey on her one o'clock. She also spotted the pink glitter falling from the unknown pegasus' wings.

"Princess Cadance?" Rainbow Dash called out. "Is that you?" She sped up to catch up with whoever it was.

The other pegasus banked and turned around gracefully. "Nope!" said Pinkie Pie. "Good morning, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash nearly fell out of the sky. She recovered and flew up to talk to her friend. "Pinkie Pie?! You, too? Does this mean we all get to be alicorns eventually?"

Pinkie Pie flipped her mane back to reveal her forehead. "Nope - no horn. I just wished I were a pegasus, and now I am!"

"You - What's going on?"

Pinkie Pie told Rainbow Dash all about her dream, how she had written to Discord about it, and how he had given her wings and laughter dust. "Hmm," said Rainbow Dash. "I wonder what he's up to."

"It's called being a good friend, silly!" said Pinkie Pie. "It's so great to have wings. I've already made half of Ponyville happy today, and there's still plenty of morning left!"

"Could you show me how this laughter dust stuff works?"

"Sure! Follow me!"

Rainbow Dash matched Pinkie Pie's leisurely pace as she flew over the streets, sprinkling laughter dust all over everypony below. They laughed, smiled, and sang as it touched them. She saw how happy it made them, and how happy Pinkie Pie looked as she worked. "This _is_ pretty awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.

"It's just as amazing as it was in my dream," agreed Pinkie Pie. "Maybe even _more _amazing!"

"Are you gonna be doing this every morning from now on?"

"Yup!"

"Then we'd better coordinate our schedules and flight paths so we don't get in each other's way. I still have the weather to take care of, you know."

"I know. I don't want to get in your way. Maybe we can even work together!"

"Sure! Tell you what - after you're finished, you can come back to my place and I'll show you the ropes. If we're going to team up, there are some things you need to know about being a weather pegasus."

"Yay! We're going to make the best team _ever!_"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash proved to be an excellent teacher. She and Pinkie Pie spent the rest of the day making flight plans so that each day's weather wouldn't interfere with the town's cheerful mood, or vice versa. At the end of the day, Pinkie Pie was enjoying being up in the clouds so much that she didn't want to go home. With Rainbow Dash's permission, she decided to spend a night wrapped in a cloud in her friend's backyard, just to see what it was like. It was _heavenly._

The next morning, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash's coordinated flight plan worked flawlessly. The laughter dust and the light drizzle mingled as they rained down, and at the end of the shower, the clouds dispersed and a rainbow shone through, compounding the town's happiness. The pair hoof-bumped to celebrate a job well done, then went off to play with Lyra and some of the town's other pegasi. Flying with the pegasi was more wonderful than Pinkie Pie had ever imagined.

"This is the _life_, you guys," Pinkie Pie said to them as they relaxed on a cloud, admiring the view. "I could stay up here forever."

"You're welcome to camp out in the backyard as long as you want," said Rainbow Dash, "but if you ever want a real house, I can hook you up with the best cloud architects in Cloudsdale."

"That would be great! Thank you!"

A yellow pegasus carrying a wicker basket flew toward their cloud. "Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy called out. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" Pinkie Pie answered. Fluttershy came and joined them. "What's up, Fluttershy?" said Pinkie Pie.

"_You_ are," said Fluttershy. She sounded slightly annoyed. "You have been for the last two days. Look what happened while you were gone." She opened the lid of her basket and showed Pinkie Pie what was inside.

"_Gummy!_" The little alligator had pink frosting all over his snout and looked distinctly nauseous. Pinkie Pie took him out of the basket and cradled him in her foreleg. "What happened to _you?_"

Gummy groaned.

"He got into Sugarcube Corner's cupcakes," said Fluttershy. "I think he ate too many. That's what happens when you leave your pet alone for two days without leaving any food for him. I thought you were a better pet owner than that, Pinkie Pie."

"I was so excited to have wings that I just… took off," said Pinkie Pie. "I'm so sorry, Gummy. It's going to be okay. You're home now."

"Home?" said Fluttershy. "Since when do you live up here?"

"Since right now! It's so much _cooler _living up here than down on the ground!"

"Well, whatever makes you happy."

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, can you keep pets and pet stuff on a cloud?"

"Not on a normal one," said Rainbow Dash. "I can keep him in my house for tonight, but you're going to need at least a real pet house, if not a real house. We can deal with that tomorrow."

"Okay," said Pinkie Pie. "Thank you for bringing Gummy up here, Fluttershy. Now I never have to leave!"

"You're welcome," said Fluttershy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Applejack and Big McIntosh were out in the orchard, tending to the apple harvest together. Applejack stretched her hind legs in preparation, then delivered a powerful kick with practiced grace. She heard the apples fall into her bushel basket… but then she heard a strange, high-pitched laugh and a _sproing _sound.

She turned around quickly. A stray apple had fallen next to the bushel basket. Odd. She picked it up by the stem and put it back in the basket.

The laughter started again. She realized it was coming from the apples themselves. In a cacophony of _sproings, _all the apples started bouncing out of the basket on their own and hopping all over the place.

"What the hay - !" exclaimed Applejack. She started chasing the apples down and corralling them into the basket. Big McIntosh ran over to help her. Together, they recaptured most of them, but Applejack found that she had to lie down on top of the basket to keep them from bouncing away again.

"Big Mac, could you carry this thing to the barn and lock the door?" she said.

"Eeyup," he answered. He set the bushel basket on his back, with Applejack still on top of it, and trotted off toward the barn. As they went, Applejack noticed something she hadn't before: the rivulets and ruts in the path had sparkling pink glitter in them.

"After that, I reckon I should talk to Pinkie Pie about her laughter dust," said Applejack.

"Eeyup."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie turned out to be hard to get a hold of. Applejack went to Sugarcube Corner first, only to find it slightly understocked and lacking its usual neat-as-a-pin appearance. The Cakes were there, but they hadn't seen Pinkie Pie in three days, and they wished she would come back from wherever she was. With nopony around to help them decorate the cupcakes, or to watch the foals while they were working, things had started to fall apart at the store.

"I think we need to rally the troops," said Applejack. "This whole laughter dust thing is getting way out of hoof. We all need to get together to show Pinkie Pie all the trouble she's caused for your store and our farm. Then maybe she'll stop this crop-dustin' nonsense."

The Cakes agreed, and told her about Fluttershy's visit to the shop to collect Gummy. The three of them put together a plan: the Cakes would go and ask Fluttershy to tell Pinkie Pie to come and meet them at the apple orchard, while Applejack went to tell Rarity and Twilight Sparkle what was going on.

Rarity agreed that she wanted their friend back, too. She and Pinkie Pie had been working together to plan Sweetie Belle's upcoming birthday party, and she'd had to put that project on hold when Pinkie Pie had disappeared into the sky. Time was running out, and Rarity knew she couldn't pull off the entire plan on her own. She went back to the orchard with Applejack.

When they got there, the orchard was ringing with the high-pitched laughter of the apples. Some of them had shaken themselves loose from the trees and were bouncing all over the place. The Cakes and Big McIntosh were doing their best to round them up, and Twilight Sparkle was firing levitation beams left and right, while also maintaining a force field over the top of each filled basket. Rarity jumped in to help her as soon as she saw what was going on.

"Twilight!" said Applejack. "Thanks for coming. Are Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie here yet?"

"I haven't seen them," said Twilight. She was obviously too busy to see much of anything besides the apples, though. Applejack looked up, scanning the sky for any sign of her friends.

After a few minutes, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie appeared overhead. Applejack waved and hollered to them, and they landed next to the group. Twilight and the others had marshaled all the apples that had come loose so far into baskets.

"Hi, Applejack," said Pinkie Pie. "Fluttershy said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah," said Applejack. "That laughter dust of yours is a menace. Look what it's doing to our apple harvest."

Twilight levitated one of her baskets toward Pinkie Pie to show her. "What?" said Pinkie Pie. "They look the same as always, except they're all glowy. Did I do that?"

"No, that's me," said Twilight. "Watch this."

She carefully peeled back one side of the magical force field she had cast over the mouth of the basket. The apples _sproinged _up with the force of a cannon, laughing loudly and bouncing away.

"The rain washed your laughter dust all over Sweet Apple Acres," said Applejack, "and it looks like it can make apples laugh, too, not just ponies. I think it's time for you to stop using it."

"But I just started!" said Pinkie Pie. "And it's so much more _fun _to make ponies happy this way!"

"Whatever has gotten into you, Pinkie Pie?" said Rarity. "You said yourself that getting your friends to smile by talking to them is what makes your life worthwhile. What about Sweetie Belle's birthday party? I was really looking forward to it, and I thought you were, too."

"I am! I'll make sure to fly over your house in the afternoon to deliver more laughter dust."

"That's not what we planned. You were going to help me host the party. Can't you see? It's not really the same."

"Rarity is right," said Twilight. "The laughter dust is putting everyone in a great mood, but it's just not the same as having _you _there. Your smile, your laugh, your personality, the special touches you give to your cakes and your parties - _those _are what we value about you. We miss that. We miss _you_."

"So do we," added Mrs. Cake. "Sugarcube Corner isn't the same without you. We can't keep up with all our orders _and _two rambunctious foals at the same time. We really miss you there, and I'm sure the twins do, too. Don't you miss all of us?"

"I dunno…" said Pinkie Pie. "I've made so many good pegasus friends since I got my wings. Anyway, playing in the clouds is _way _funner than playing on the ground!"

"Speaking of pegasus friends," said Twilight, "we're missing somepony. Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"She's working with some of her friends from Cloudsdale to build a cloud house for me and Gummy."

"_What?_"

"You really should try it, Twilight. Clouds are the best mattresses in the _world! _I can't wait to have a house of my own up there!"

"Okay, this is getting way too weird." Twilight frowned, and streaks of white appeared in the pink glow of her horn. "_Discord!_" she shouted. "I know you're watching this, and I know you can hear me! Come out!"

Discord appeared in a burst of white light. "Yes, Your Royal Alicorniness?"

"You're the one who did this to Pinkie Pie, aren't you?"

"Pinkie Pie came to me for help. She was _so _tired of being an earth pony, cursed to have to walk everywhere all the time. Frankly, I don't know how you earth ponies can stand it." He said this while levitating past them. "Having tasted flight once, she felt her life wasn't complete without it. I made her happy by granting her wish for wings. Isn't that what a friend would do?"

"_You earth ponies?_" Applejack repeated. "A friend wouldn't look down on their friends because of what they are!"

"A friend wouldn't try to change their friends, either!" said Twilight. "We want the old Pinkie Pie back. Turn her back to normal right now!"

"She made a wish. As her fairy godpony, I granted it. I won't change her back unless she wishes for it herself."

"_Never!_" shrieked Pinkie Pie. "I love flying so much that I'm going to stay up here in the clouds forever and ever and _ever_!" She shot up and away toward the nearest cloud, turning in a circle as she went and leaving a small whirlwind of laughter dust behind her.

As Pinkie Pie got further and further away, the whirlwind got bigger and stronger. The laughter dust in it changed from bright pink to acid green. It was headed straight for the apple trees.

"_Our apples!_" Applejack shouted. Twilight Sparkle leaped into the air and tried to beat the whirlwind back with her wings by generating a wind going the opposite direction, while hastily working to come up with a counterspell. The others hurried to harvest as many of the uncontaminated apples as they could before the whirlwind got to them. Even the Cakes did their best to help, even though it was obvious that neither of them had ever tried their hooves at apple-bucking in their lives.

The acid green laughter dust touched the first apple tree. The apples on it started laughing a horrifying, evil laugh, then turned brown and rotten.

Fluttershy knew what she had to do. She took off as fast as she could after Pinkie Pie. It wasn't long before she found the cloud where Pinkie Pie was hiding. She had curled herself up in a hollow in the middle of it, like a bird in a nest.

"Come on, wingpower, don't fail me now," Fluttershy said under her breath.

She got under and behind the cloud where Pinkie Pie couldn't see her, carefully braced her forehooves against it, and pushed with all the strength her wings could muster. A very old memory reawakened in her; she hadn't done this since flight camp, but she was pleased to find that she still knew how. The cloud moved back toward Sweet Apple Acres.

"Hey!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "What's going on?"

"Pinkie Pie, please, listen to me," said Fluttershy from under the cloud. "There's something I really need you to see right now. Our friends are in trouble."

"Where are we going?"

"Back to the apple orchard. You'll see."

Fluttershy got the cloud positioned over the part of the orchard where their friends were. Twilight was still wrangling the whirlwind with her magic, and the others were all racing to pick up the fallen apples.

"Is that - the laughter dust?" said Pinkie Pie. "What happened?"

"When you got angry and stormed off, your wings made that whirlwind," said Fluttershy. "The laughter dust in the whirlwind turned green and started doing _that. _I think it only spreads happiness when _you're _happy. When you're _not_ happy..."

Pinkie Pie's face fell. "What have I _done?_"

She spotted Discord sitting on a fence, watching the ponies struggle against the whirlwind and munching on popcorn. She flew down from the cloud, landed gracefully on the ground in front of him, folded her wings, and hung her head. "Discord, if my wings and my laughter dust can do things like this, I don't want them anymore. I wish I were my old, earth pony self again. And I wish all the laughter dust would disappear, too."

"Oh, but this show was just getting good!" Discord said. "Well, if you say so." He snapped his claws. Pinkie Pie's wings glowed, then faded away. The whirlwind and all the laughter dust vanished.

Twilight and Fluttershy landed next to Pinkie Pie, and the others came running over. "You made the right decision, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Twilight," said Pinkie Pie.

Except for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, all the ponies there glared at Discord. "Oh, dear," he said to Fluttershy. "I seem to have made another friendship _faux pas_."

"I appreciate that you were trying to do something nice for Pinkie Pie," said Fluttershy, "but I think your gift was a little too… much."

"That's right," said Twilight. "Your Chaos magic isn't _bad_ in and of itself, but in the hooves of a pony who isn't used to having such powerful magic, it can cause more problems than it solves."

"Yeah," agreed Pinkie Pie. "I thought having wings and laughter dust would be a better way to make everypony happy, but all it did was make a big mess. I'm sorry, everypony."

"Aw, shucks, Pinkie, we forgive you," said Applejack. "We're just glad to have you back."

"We sure are," said Mrs. Cake. "You're the best cupcake decorator and best foal-sitter in town."

"The best party hostess, too," added Rarity.

"And you can't do any of those things from up in the clouds," said Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie nodded. "Does this mean I still have a job?" she said to the Cakes. "And a room?"

"Of course!" said Mr. Cake. "We _want _you back. The bakery is a disaster, and the twins miss you."

"They certainly do," agreed Mrs. Cake. "We left them at the neighbors' house. They're probably screaming their heads off."

"I'll help the Apples clean up the orchard," said Twilight to Pinkie Pie. "You go on and help with the twins."

"Okay," said Pinkie Pie. She and the Cakes headed back toward town.

"Hey, Twilight," said Pinkie Pie, turning back suddenly. "One more thing. I guess our old diary got blown up when the old library did. Are we going to start a new one?"

"Of course!" said Twilight. "Now that we all have our thrones and our purpose, I think it's more important now than ever. I already had a new diary sent to our castle. This would make a great first entry."

"Are diary-writing privileges reserved for those of us with thrones?" said Discord.

Twilight laughed. "They don't have to be. If you want to write about what you learned, be my guest."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Dear Diary,_

_ I wanted to become a pegasus because I thought being able to fly and having magical laughter dust would make my life easier and better. It did, at first, but later I found out that the magic I was using was causing trouble for my friends. Turns out taking a shortcut wasn't such a great idea after all. Our special talents really shine when we put hard work and love behind them. My friends appreciate the effort I put in, and they like me just the way I've always been. Flying was great, but I'm happy just being me._

_ Yours truly,_

_ Pinkie Pie_

_Dear Diary,_

_ My attempt to grant a magical gift to one of my pony friends didn't last long, but it did lead both of us to learn some important lessons about friendship. I will record my observations here alongside hers. Today, I learned that good friends do not imply that their friends are in some way inferior to them, nor do they try to alter their friends' identities. In short, I learned that friends value and appreciate each other just as they are. If Pinkie Pie's reaction to my unicorn form was any indication, my pony friends feel that way about me, too, which I find very encouraging. Thank you for including me in your diary, and for your friendship._

_Sincerely,_

_ Discord_

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Author's Notes:

I wrote this in late February/early March of 2015, when I was caught up with all of MLP:FiM through the end of Season 4, but Season 5 hadn't come out yet. I tried to make my story as much like an actual episode of the series as I could. I did take a couple of liberties: I know it's probably too long to be an actual episode, and I imagined, for the sake of the story I wanted to tell, that all of the Mane Six except for Twilight would continue to live in their existing homes for at least a while, rather than moving into the new castle immediately. I hope no one minds.

I'm sorry about the repeated updates to fix the content! Those are my own fault. Lesson learned: the FF.N Document Editor window and a certain browser extension I had installed do not mix.

Disclaimer: All characters from _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic _are the property of Hasbro. As always, I am not making any money from the writing or publication of this story. I am writing it purely for fun.


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